This summer has been hyper-focused on travel for me, but I hadn’t been as active in posting my plans online — sorry about that! I’ve had a whirlwind last few weeks of travel from ReaderCon to the Cascade Writer’s Conference to RWA and now Dublin is just around the bend. I’ll be seeing authors and agents (or stopping by the various parties going on), but if you want to pin me down at specific points, here’s my panel schedule:

Everyone Is Invited – LGBTQIA+ in ComicsFormat: Panel16 Aug 2019, Friday 1:30 – 2:40PM (13:30 – 14:20), Odeon 1 (Point Square Dublin)Despite the lack of earlier representation, there have always been queer fans of and professionals in comics. Now with creators being more vocal and visible members of the LGBTQIA+ community, we’re seeing characters that don’t even need to come out, but are written and drawn with queer text rather than subtext. Let’s talk about what’s out there, where to find it, and what we’d all like to see more of!Ms Gavia Baker-Whitelaw (The Daily Dot) (M), Jacq Applebee, Rosa Devine (Fighting Words), Diana M. Pho (Tor Books)

Gender and sexuality in YAFormat: Panel17 Aug 2019, Saturday 10:00 – 10:50, ECOCEM Room (CCD)Young adulthood is a formative time in many ways, but especially when it comes to gender and sexuality. Both topics have been increasing in interest and importance in YA books. How do our books reflect explorations of identity? Why is it important that they do so? Has this changed over time? And how can we approach these topics respectfully – and with an eye on intersectionality?Sam Bradbury (Hodder & Stoughton) (M), Diana M. Pho (Tor Books), Victoria “V.E.” Schwab (Tor Books, Titan, HarperCollins, Scholastic), Rei Rosenquist, Rachel Hartman

About Beyond Victoriana

The Nutshell ExplanationBeyond Victoriana is the oldest-running blog about multicultural steampunk and retro-futurism--that is, steampunk outside of a Western-dominant, Eurocentric framework. Founded in 2009, Beyond Victoriana focuses on non-Western cultures, underrepresented minorities in Western histories (Asian / Pacific Islander, Middle Eastern, First Nation, Hispanic, black / African & other marginalized identities), and the cultural intersection between the West and the non-West.